Need advice on putting guitar together!

[VAiN]

Yes, and the "little by little" bit assures you don't end up with screw tips poking through your fretboard....that would be....bad.

Man... not only would it be bad, but it is bad! Seems the old screws are juuuuuust a tad longer than necessary. The screw didn't actually go all the way through, but it did crack and lift a small section of the fretboard. I assume a shop can fix this?

[jhale667]

Yeah, a shop should be able to fix it...but that SUCKS!! Sorry, bro!

[VAiN]

So, what's the difference between 250k and 500k volume pots? Is the 500 just louder?

[jhale667]

Generally, 250K is the recommended value for single-coil pickups, 500K for humbuckers. Some manufacturers that combine pickup types use 300K as a compromise. There's no law saying you can't use either, in fact some recommend using 250K pots to tame harsh-sounding humbuckers...

[VAiN]

OK, next question for you guys - We wired in the pick up, but there's a buzz. It's pretty simple, so I'm fairly sure the wires are in the right spots(?) We did accidentally touch the barrel of the iron to the pick-up wire and melted off a little of the exterior, which i wrapped in electric tape.. My burnt finger and I have a whole new level of respect for guys who are good with soldering irons, BTW.. Any ideas?

[jhale667]

Ummm, it's still early in the AM LA time, but is that wired backwards? Looks like you have the hot and the ground lugs reversed at first glance...?

[VAiN]

We thought the same thing, but when we flipped them the volume pot got hot... I'm going with black = ground, right?

[jhale667]

We thought the same thing, but when we flipped them the volume pot got hot... I'm going with black = ground, right?

Depends on the manufacturer... black is hot on Duncans, red is hot on Dimarzios...the red and white are for coil-taps on Duncans, black and white on Dimarzio. Green and bare are ground for them both. What kind of pickup is it (don't see it referenced in the thread)? You can probably find the correct schematic on the manufacturer's site...

[VAiN]

It's an EVH Wolfgang bridge pick up.. Is that made by Fender?

[jhale667]

It's an EVH Wolfgang bridge pick up.. Is that made by Fender?

Thought those were made by Duncan, so should follow their specs you'd think...didn't it come with a wiring diagram?

[VAiN]

Sorry for the quality of the pics, but here's the wiring diagram that came with the PU...




The only exposed wires are red & black, with the black being a heavier gauge, whoich I assume is the ground. Any ideas? This is greek to me...

[jhale667]

Weird, it's not the standard Duncan configuration......I'll stare at the pics a little harder when I get a sec, but not seeing where it says to solder the red wire..(?) it wouild appear (at least by the process of elimination) the black IS the ground though, so you'd figure the red was hot, and would go to the switch in the diagram shown...

[VAiN]

it wouild appear (at least by the process of elimination) the black IS the ground though, so you'd figure the red was hot, and would go to the switch in the diagram shown...

Thanks, J - Yeah, that's what we came up with as well... Any thoughts, other than the physical location of the wires, on what would cause a buzz? Type of solder? Bad volume pot? We singed a small part of the main wire, but it didn't seem to be too bad - like I don't think there are any exposed wires touching.. It seems so simple, damnit! We're new at this, so this is the learning curve.

[jhale667]

Thanks, J - Yeah, that's what we came up with as well... Any thoughts, other than the physical location of the wires, on what would cause a buzz? Type of solder? Bad volume pot? We singed a small part of the main wire, but it didn't seem to be too bad - like I don't think there are any exposed wires touching.. It seems so simple, damnit! We're new at this, so this is the learning curve.

Try re-soldering the ground connections...sounds like you may have a cold solder-joint (where it's physically attached via the blob of solder but the wires aren't actually contacting correctly creating a ground for the circuit)... it's worth a try...

[VAiN]

You're probably right... building guitars isn't the only thing we're amateurs at...